In The Arms Of The Angel
by lunastars
Summary: She could never bring herself to regret the decision she made. - Slightly AU but also CONTAINS SPOILERS for 5x08


**WARNING:  
THIS IS SLIGHTLY AU BUT MAY ALSO CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR SEASON 5 EPISODE 8 "CODA"  
DO NOT READ PAST THIS POINT IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN IT JUST TO BE SAFE**

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_Let's just say I'm pissed off by the mid-season finale for a number of reasons that I'm not going to get into because it'll turn into a long rant. This came as a result of that episode and me missing writing Meth (Merle/Beth)._

**This is set after the episode in an AU world where Beth and Merle talked more and had developed some kind of friendship.**

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"Hey, Angel."

Beth whipped around at the sound of his voice. She didn't know exactly where she was but suddenly him being there made her feel safe. Something kept gnawing at the back of her mind, telling her that something wasn't right here but she pushed it down and smiled at him.

"Merle." She let her relief show in her words as she made her way over to him.

"You alright?" he asked as he looked her over a little.

"I'm okay," she assured him. "What are we going to do?"

Merle looked at her like that wasn't what he had expected her to ask but any moment of shock was gone in an instant. "We're gonna stick together for a bit, travel together."

"Just the two of us?" she questioned, her head titling to the side to block out the light as she looked at him. "What about Daryl? Don't you want him to come with us at least? And what about my sister?"

"Oh, Angel, they can't come where we're going."

"What do you mean?"

Her voice shook slightly and Merle moved to stand beside her. He put his arm casually around her shoulders like he used to do in the prison when they started to talk more. Gently he led the way, bringing her along as he spoke. "They can't come but there's plenty of other people who'll be joining us."

Beth continued to walk with him but she looked down momentarily, like she was thinking about it. "Who will be joining us?"

"Well," he said, thinking about it for a moment. "A couple of people you've never met before. There's one of them called Amy, I think you'll like her. She might be a bit older than ya but I don't think that really matters now."

A frown spread across Beth's face, the name seemed to ring a bell somewhere in her mind, like she had heard someone mention it before. "Who's coming that I know?"

"Oh a few people, more than there should be," Merle admitted. "Your daddy is the most excited though."

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a flash of pain shot through Beth. The second her father was mentioned it was like her heart was being ripped from her chest. There was pain and Beth knew what that pain was. With tears in her eyes she touched the back of her head slightly, when she brought her hand forward again there was nothing but she knew.

They had stopped walking and Merle was stood in front of her. "I'm so sorry, Angel."

"Why didn't I remember?" she asked as she blinked back tears.

"I don't know," he admitted. "But ya were pretty badass."

Despite the situation Beth smiled through her tears. "I wish I got to take her down for real though."

"Oh, my baby brother dealt with that," Merle assured her.

"They got out?" she asked hopefully, all sadness for what happened to herself was gone.

"Yeah they did, and I'm not gonna give you a speech about how ya should have gone with them," Merle said but Beth could see it in his eyes that he wanted to. "I'm not gonna do that 'cause I know that ya had a reason for doing what ya did."

Beth nodded her head but she didn't speak as she tried to hold back tears again. Merle hooked his arms around her and held her close in a tight hug. It was then she noticed that he was no longer missing his right hand. She smiled at that thought as she hugged him back, burying her face in the crook of his neck.

The family that she had left behind were safe for the time being, and now she got to see the ones she had said goodbye to long ago being happy and healthy again. Beth knew she might have made the wrong decision, that what she did might have been a stupid mistake, but she couldn't bring herself to think about that when the people that she loved were okay.

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_R&amp;R_


End file.
